Martin Scorsese Says He’s Prepping SILENCE As His Next Project

Director Martin Scorsese is currently doing the rounds for his latest effort, the splendidly fantastic Hugo, but many are wondering which project he’ll tackle next. While he had previously stated that he planned on getting to his adaptation of Shusaku Endo’s novel Silence after Hugo, he recently attached himself to an adaptation of The Snowman and a remake of The Gambler, throwing some doubt on whether or not he would actually get to the 17th Century Japan-set pic. Well now the director has confirmed that Silence will indeed be his next film, and said that they’re currently working to pull everything together. Hit the jump for more, including whether or not Daniel Day-Lewis is still set to star.

Endo’s novel centers on two Jesuit priests in 17th Century Japan, and the film adaptation has been a passion of Scorsese’s for quite some time now. The director recently appeared on Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode’s Radio Five show (via Bleeding Cool) and revealed that they’re already doing prep work on Silence:

“I’m hoping to do Endo’s book next, Silence… Not hoping, we’re literally pulling all the elements together at this point.”

I’m pretty ecstatic that Scorsese’s finally getting to the adaptation. It’s an intriguing project and one that the director seems incredibly passionate about. Daniel Day-Lewis and Benicio Del Toro were previously rumored to be attached to the film, but when asked if Day-Lewis would indeed be starring in Silence Scorsese replied:

“I’m not sure. Daniel’s working with Steve right now, Steve Spielberg.”

As we’ve seen, Day-Lewis is definitely in Abraham Lincoln mode for Spielberg’s Lincoln (which is shooting now), so whether or not the actor would be willing to go straight into Scorsese’s Silence is unknown. DDL is famously intense when it comes to his method acting, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he turned it down due to the lack of prep time. However, since Silence has been in development for so long maybe Day-Lewis already has quite a bit of prep for the part under his belt. I’m hoping so, because his turn in Gangs of New York was fantastic and I relish the thought of another Scorsese/Day-Lewis team-up.

As for Del Toro, he recently nabbed the villain role in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek 2 which begins filming in January, so depending on how long production on the sci-fi pic takes and when Scorsese plans to shoot Silence, he may still be able to star (that is, if he’s still Scorsese’s man for the part).

The director also went on to say that he’s excited to do another HBO series about the Rock and Roll business with Mick Jagger and Terrence Winter (Boardwalk Empire). That project has been in the works for a while, but it sounds like they’ll be moving forward soon.

Here’s the synopsis for Silence:

Young Portuguese Jesuit, Sebastião Rodrigues (based on the historical figure Giuseppe Chiara) is sent to Japan to succor the local Church and investigate reports that his mentor, Fr. Cristóvão Ferreira, has committed apostasy. (Ferreira is a historical figure, who apostatized after torture and later became a Zen Buddhist monk and wrote a treatise against Christianity.) [Wikipedia]